For everyone who may have the talent of clairvoyance,
there are many more trying to manipulate people in times of need through their
“gifts.” This, as you well know, has historically given many psychics a bad reputation.
Though there have been many claims of people being scammed by psychics, the
most well know scam in recent years was that of The Psychic Readers Network.
Founded in 1991, they stayed mostly under the radar until they gained
household name status with the famous face of their company, Miss Cleo.

Miss Cleo had a demanding presence. She was
a sassy, exotic, loud woman with an almost off-putting personality. It wasn’t
like any other infomercials happening at the time, and it seemed like she was
the perfect fit for the customers The Psychic Readers Network where trying to
pull in. Lonely, confused middle class working Americans eating their popcorn
in from of the TV at 2am would feel reassured by her demanding presence, like
she knew a secret they didn’t, and like if they called she might let them in on
it. She claimed to be from the Caribbean Islands, or like she said, “Trelawney,
a little place called Duncan Falls, twenty minutes outside Falmouth.”

After making a midnight TV connection with
Miss Cleo, clients would call the line being enticed in by the first 3 minutes
being free. Some people would be surprised not to get Miss Cleo at all, but
rather a ‘friend’ from the network. They would, after keeping you on the phone
for the free three minutes by asking your address and other information for a
free tarot card, proceed to ask ‘showing questions,’ then they would draw the
tarot cards together from information given to them. The goal was to keep the
client on for 19 minutes, or 80 dollars worth of empty predictions and
assumptions. People would usually call about love or money, so it wasn’t hard
to make set scripts for people to work with.

The scam was eventually up when they showed
Miss Cleo’s United States birth certificate. Though she was not sued directly,
the company suffered large losses, not only from lawsuit expenses, but also
from a now untrusting clientele. For everyone they could have help by just
giving them someone to listen to, they sideswiped just as many, causing them to
second doubt themselves even more when the clients found out they had been used.

Miss Cleo is just a famous example; there
are many fake psychics out there, namely street vendors, who instill fear and
doubt into their clients when they’re at a low point in their lives; they use
this control over them to pay exorbitant amounts of cash to remove curses,
bring lovers back, win the lottery, etc. A real psychic’s goal is to make their
client happy and feel positive about moving forward with their life; they don’t
want to scare you into giving them money for mundane rituals or trick you into
staying on the phone with nothing gained.

Though fake psychics have continued being
ousted since Houdini, there are more victims than just the people getting
scammed for their money; there are also the people who could possibly have a
real clairvoyance, people who may be scared and confused by their gift, being
constantly accused of being the next Miss Cleo.

So next time you feel intrigued by that
glowing neon sign or alluring 1-800 number, make sure they’re an authentic
professional not just in to prey on vulnerable people and take their cash.